Power Rangers Ancient Elements Discussion

[Red Thunder]

It seems like people dont post comments in the actual fic, so I decided to open up a discussion thread. In here I will talk about some of the process I went through when I wrote parts of season 1 (which was over a year ago), and what to expect for season 2. This thread will probably have spoilers, so comment in the fic's thread for non spoiler discussion.

I'm gonna update this thread with character profiles every couple of days. This will give you a deeper understanding of the rangers. This will contain spoilers for season 1 and beyond.

Name: Ian Shokuno
Ranger Designation: Ancient Flame Red Ranger/Crimson Dragon Ranger
Weapons: Flame Saber (Burning Ambition attack), Ancient Blade, Element Bazooka
Zords: Flame Warrior Zord/Draganus

Born January 30, 1991 to a secretary and marine, Ian's life began tragically. His mother died while giving birth, while his dad was killed months later in the Gulf War. Adopted by the Shokuno’s, friends of the family, Ian was raised by Tye and Layla Shokuno, who had a 3 year old son of their own, Takayo.

Ian’s early years were nothing special. He lived in Hawaii and had a normal life as a kid until the age of 8, when he started to learn martial arts from his father. Doing so opened his mind up to the philosophical side of life. He learned that every person had a destiny, and he believed that his was special.

That was until his family moved to Fountain Heights, NJ, a small city just 15 minutes from the shore. The first year was fine, but the summer before he was about to enter 5th grade, he started to lose confidence in himself and developed a small amount of depression and anxiety. The two factors soon merged and he dropped out of public school and was privately tutored.

During this time however, he developed important friendships. He met his best friend, Nick Mandello, as well as good friends Brad Valan and Rye Frezz. He and Brad had a somewhat rocky friendship, with Brad being the alpha male and Ian being the shy one that wasn’t really popular.

Things seemed to stay in place for a few years. He had friends, but was still very shy and didn’t have a girlfriend, although he liked someone, Chloe Denet. Told by his friends that she was out of his league popularity wise, Ian didn’t stop thinking about her. Some thing about her just felt pure and right.

The came the night of the meteor, when his courageous side finally showed itself and he stepped up to become the red ranger. Now armed with a high self esteem and confidence, Ian led the team in numerous victories, all while dating Chloe and feeling like he was the best.

This led to the emergence of his dark side. See, Ian had a fiery temper, and combined with his love for Chloe, anyone that hurt her was bound to pay. During a battle where she was injured, Ian’s anger grew out of control and let lose a new power, the power of the Crimson Dragon. This power made him ruthless and hungry for battle, which led him to fighting his own teammates. After successfully being freed form the control of Draganus, Ian set his sights on the enemy, Cursed Darkness. Or as he knew him, his brother Takayo.

Now with the Ancient Element powers no longer needed, Ian is trying to settle back into a normal teenage life. This is easier said then done. With a breakup with Chloe, and the after effects of losing his power, Ian’s life may now actually be worse than before. Time will tell what destiny has in store for the teen that wants to be the greatest ranger of all time and save the world from evil.

[Grieversoft]

Dude, your s*** is God-awful. Every sub-plot is too rushed, your romance is shallow and contrived, your pun-related names for characters is even worse than the original shows. Your post-apocalyptic setting shows promise, but in the end, it's wasted potential. If you want an elemental-themed ensemble, you should use the classical Greek elements; fire, water, air, earth and aether, instead of RPG elements. Although, it's too late, because your fic is complete (?), and that's the theme to my elemental rangers in a future fanfic, so you can't do that. Keep practicing, I wanna see more out of you :).

Shake it off, I'm a tough-love kind of guy.

[Red Thunder]

Dude, your s*** is God-awful. Every sub-plot is too rushed, your romance is shallow and contrived, your pun-related names for characters is even worse than the original shows. Your post-apocalyptic setting shows promise, but in the end, it's wasted potential. If you want an elemental-themed ensemble, you should use the classical Greek elements; fire, water, air, earth and aether, instead of RPG elements. Although, it's too late, because your fic is complete (?), and that's the theme to my elemental rangers in a future fanfic, so you can't do that. Keep practicing, I wanna see more out of you :).

Shake it off, I'm a tough-love kind of guy.

I do get where your coming from, but I wrote most of this when I was 15 and not the best writer. Now I've gotten better; I'll PM you a copy of my more recent work.

You are right with the post apocalypic comment. It doesnt look good now that I'm older.

Just curious about the character names though. I dont really see puns in their names.

Also, I dont think it is that awful. There is MUCH worse out there.

[Grieversoft]

Also, I dont think it is that awful. There is MUCH worse out there.

You're right, there. I'll give you that one.

As for derpy pun-related names: "Anciealment" or whatever his name was? WTF?

[Red Thunder]

Ancialient, yeah, a pun on ancient and element.

The first season is complete, but not the whole story. I have tons (maybe too many) ideas floating around, most of which will explain the motivations and personalities of some of the rangers and their relationships. Instead of going right to season 2, I'm going to write a bridge, basically the rangers junior year. It will serve as the base to introduce new characters and flesh out the other ones.

For the personalities, I started with basic personalities, and evolve them.

Ian- Starts as the shy kid that feels that he is important and wants to be remembered for something. As the season progresses, he grows to be more confident and heroic, making himself feel better. But, he's developing a craving to be better than everyone and prove people wrong. So him becoming a ranger has its good sides and bad sides.

Nick- Started with basically no character, just Ian's best friend. I decided to make him the one that knows technology the best and be the brains. He sees the way Brad treats Sarah and is annoyed by it, plus he has a cruch on her. I think I hinted at his past, but it will be explored in the bridge.

Chloe- Hard to explain. The caring girl, a mix of Trini and Kimberly. Still trying to figure out a good background and personality.

Brad- The jock. Very arrogant and somewhat sexist, he always ripped on Ian. Now that Ian is growing to become on the same level as him, their personalities will clash.

Rye- The independent loner. You have to earn his trust. Very deep and thinks things through.

Sarah- The somewhat dumb blonde. Popular and rich, but her life is stressful.

I hope people see a difference in the writing between season 1 and the bridge, which will be up tonight.

[Grieversoft]

If you're having trouble with developing your characters, then you can always stick with the same general ensemble templates; the Five Man Band, the Power Trio, the Four Temperament Ensemble, etc.

The easiest is the Five Man Band, which consists of:

The Hero, one who leads, the main protagonist
The Lancer, one who disagrees, a foil to the hero, equal yet opposite
The Smart Guy, one who is smart
The Big Guy, one who is big and tough
and The Chick, an ooey-gooey emotional center of the group, the heart, so to speak

This is what I usually use when I write character ensembles. For example, in my fic I have:

Jason=The Hero, the focus of the story, idealistic and enthusiastic
Trini=The Lancer, Jason's foil, jaded and angsty
Billy=The Smart Guy, a genre-savvy smart ass
Zach=The Big Guy, a big, strong, scary black man who is gruff and leatherskinned
Kimberly=The Chick, she's the one who displays the emotions appropriate for the situation, like I said, she's the group's heart

[Red Thunder]

If you're having trouble with developing your characters, then you can always stick with the same general ensemble templates; the Five Man Band, the Power Trio, the Four Temperament Ensemble, etc.

The easiest is the Five Man Band, which consists of:

The Hero, one who leads, the main protagonist
The Lancer, one who disagrees, a foil to the hero, equal yet opposite
The Smart Guy, one who is smart
The Big Guy, one who is big and tough
and The Chick, an ooey-gooey emotional center of the group, the heart, so to speak

This is what I usually use when I write character ensembles. For example, in my fic I have:

Jason=The Hero, the focus of the story, idealistic and enthusiastic
Trini=The Lancer, Jason's foil, jaded and angsty
Billy=The Smart Guy, a genre-savvy smart ass
Zach=The Big Guy, a big, strong, scary black man who is gruff and leatherskinned
Kimberly=The Chick, she's the one who displays the emotions appropriate for the situation, like I said, she's the group's heart

That's what I was kind of going for, but mixing some of the personalities together.

The very first episode of the bridge is up, and introduces the first new character.